Hire as if talent were scarce

By Farrell Associates — B Corp-certified sustainability & ESG recruitment specialists

For most of the last few years, the hardest part of a senior search in sustainability was finding anyone who was available. There were more openings than experienced people looking, and good candidates often had several conversations going at once. That has changed. Many organisations now advertise a senior post and receive hundreds of applications, sometimes more than a thousand.

On the face of it, that is good news for employers. In practice I think it brings a quiet temptation that is worth naming, because giving in to it can lead to hires that look safe on the day and disappoint over the years that follow.

The pull towards plug and play

When the pile of CVs is large and budgets are under pressure, the natural instinct is to narrow the brief. If so many people are available, why not hold out for someone who has done exactly this job before, at exactly this level, in a similar organisation? Someone who needs no training and can be productive from the first week.

I understand why that feels responsible. Nobody wants to explain to a board why a new Head of Sustainability took six months to find their feet, and in a cost-conscious year there is little appetite for anything that looks like a risk.

What I find interesting is that we rarely apply the same logic earlier in people's careers. Most organisations are perfectly comfortable hiring a bright second jobber who has two thirds of what is needed and teaching them the rest. They do it because they can see the potential and they expect the person to grow. At senior level that generosity tends to disappear, and with it go the two things that matter most over the long run: what genuinely motivates the person, and whether they will fit the team and the organisation they are joining.

What candidate-short markets taught us

The best senior appointments I have been involved in were nearly all made when talent was scarce. In that kind of market you cannot rely on applications. The people you want are not looking, and the only way to reach them is to approach them directly and offer something they would consider worth moving for.

That changes the whole conversation. A passive candidate will only move for an aspirational step: a bigger remit, the chance to build something, a seat at the table they have been working towards, or an organisation whose purpose matters more to them. Because the move has to be worth it to them, the people who say yes are, almost by definition, motivated by the job in front of them.

Those hires tend to share a few qualities. They arrive with energy and a clear sense of why they came. They have a long runway, because the job is a step up and there is plenty left to learn and achieve. They develop, often well beyond the original brief. And their enthusiasm is noticed by the people around them, which matters a great deal in sustainability teams that so often rely on influence rather than authority.

The sideways move

Compare that with someone moving sideways, or accepting a role mainly because they need one. I want to be careful here, because there are many good reasons people find themselves in that position, and plenty of them go on to do excellent work. Restructures across asset management and consultancy over the past year have put very capable people on the market through no fault of their own.

It is still worth being honest about the pattern. A person who has done the same job before may find it comfortable rather than stretching. A person who took the first reasonable offer may keep half an eye on the market, and when it turns, as it always does, they are often the first to be approached and the most willing to listen. The hire that looked safest can turn out to be the one with the shortest runway.

Hiring in a busy market as if it were a quiet one

None of this means overlooking the many good people who are looking right now. Some of the strongest candidates I am speaking to are actively on the market, and for the right opportunity they are exactly the motivated, aspirational hire I am describing. The aim is to judge everyone, active or passive, by the same question: would this move be a genuine step forward for them?

A few things help.

Start with what the person will need to do, rather than a list of every past experience that would be nice to have. It is much easier to see the stretch candidate when the brief describes the job instead of the person who last did it.

Ask early about motivation. Why this organisation, why now, and what would they want to have achieved in three years? The answers usually tell you more about how the hire will go than another round of questions on technical experience.

Be willing to support someone into the job. A capable person with most of what you need, and a real appetite for the rest, will often outperform someone who has done it all before and is looking for something steady.

And look beyond the applications. The people who would only move for the right opportunity are still out there, even in a market like this one. They simply will not apply, so someone needs to go and talk to them.

Hiring for the long term

A senior appointment is usually a decision about the next five years. A crowded market makes it tempting to plan mainly for the first few weeks, because the choice feels plentiful and the risk feels avoidable. The qualities that made candidate-short markets produce such good hires are motivation, fit and the sense of a real step up, and they are just as available today. They take a little more looking for, and they are worth it.

If you are hiring for a senior sustainability role and would like to talk through how to find the people who would only move for the right thing, I am always happy to have that conversation. You can also see the roles we are currently working on.

FAQ

Should I hire a candidate who has done the exact role before? Direct experience is valuable, but on its own it says little about how the hire will go. At senior level, motivation and fit with the team and organisation tend to predict long-term success more reliably than a matching job title.

Why are senior hires made in a candidate-short market often stronger? When few people are looking, employers have to approach passive candidates and offer a move worth making. The people who accept are usually taking a genuine step up, so they arrive motivated, with a long runway and room to grow.

Is it a mistake to hire someone who is actively looking for work? No. Many excellent people are on the market through restructures and redundancies. The useful question is whether the move is a genuine step forward for the person, whatever their reason for looking.

How can employers assess motivation in senior candidates? Ask early why this organisation and why now, and what they would want to have achieved in three years. Describe the job in terms of what needs to be done rather than a list of past experience, so stretch candidates can see themselves in it.